


Waste Away

by Twistedluck



Category: One Piece
Genre: Ace is an idiot, Ace's issues have issues, Poor Thatch, Starvation
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-09-25
Updated: 2020-09-25
Packaged: 2021-03-07 21:01:15
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,016
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/26644159
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Twistedluck/pseuds/Twistedluck
Summary: Ace has had cooks quit on him before due to his appetite. That's not going to happen here. He won't let it.
Relationships: Portgas D. Ace & Whitebeard Pirates
Comments: 8
Kudos: 150





	Waste Away

Ace was not the person Marco had hoped for when thinking about the next crewmate Pops wanted to adopt. He is, in fact, extremely confident that none of his siblings had a belligerent person like Ace in mind at all. The man-child refused to eat with, sleep near, or talk to his new family unless forced. The only exception to this was his frequent (once or more a day) assassination attempts. Pops could take care of himself, but the monstrous strength Ace displayed could be a genuine threat to his siblings. So far, Ace had yet to hurt anyone including his target. It has been 70 days since the brat was forcefully boarded onto the Moby Dick, and he showed no signs of slowing down. As soon as the attempt was thwarted, Ace disappeared like a ghost until the next one started.  
Thatch reported that food was getting stolen from the pantry, however if he tried to pack a bag with a more balanced diet it would be totally ignored. Marco was convinced that Ace moved where he plotted and slept frequently. It was almost impossible for the many searches to fail so completely otherwise. The first commander was going to find the asshole, tie him up if necessary, and finally talk to the brat.  
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~  
Ace was so hungry he was starting to lose that particular sensation. That was not a good sign. He sighed. A new pantry break in would not be feasible for the near future. Ace picked up his makeshift fishing rod and stealthily made his way to the apparently forgotten place he used for this purpose. After he cast the line, he took off his stolen shirt to see how bad his body looked. He could see his ribs and his muscles were slowly wearing away. He had to catch more fish. There was no other option. Even if he didn’t want to be here, he was not going to eat as much as he could. They needed the food more than he did. There were so many members of this crew and the New World ocean was so unpredictable that Ace couldn’t bring himself to eat up their food supply.  
As a captain, Ace remembered the three cooks that quit, completely due to his black hole tendencies. It was a miracle that that the Spade Pirate chef stayed as long as he did. Ace could live with the fish he caught and his irregular trips to the kitchen. He’d been through worse.  
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~  
Marco finally caught up to Ace on the 95th night. The brat had previously been cornered over the past 25 days by others, but this was the first opportunity for Marco. The first commander couldn’t see the brat’s face clearly due to both the dark and that ridiculous cowboy hat. Now that he’d found Ace, Marco couldn’t think of anything to say. So for a while, they both sat in the darkened room in silence.  
“What do you want?” There went the quiet. The question was sullen and soft.  
“To talk.”  
“Why?”  
“Why what?”  
“Why do you call him Pops?”  
“Because he calls us his sons.”  
“That’s not a fucking answer!”  
“Of course it is, Yoi.”  
“Don’t patronize me. I already know that no one would want me.” Ouch. Marco knew that someone so stubborn would have issues, but damn.  
“Pops does. After he first saw you, he never stopped wanting you as his son.”  
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~  
Ace, after a hundred days of failed assassination attempts, had accepted his place on the crew. Everyone was somewhat eager to get to know their new little brother, if a little wary. Ace finally made his way into the galley. It smelled delicious. Ace held himself back. He couldn’t let himself go wild. He’d just been accepted and would only ruin things if he did.  
Ace took a portion that one of his previous nakama would appreciate. He forced himself to eat it slowly. He could do this.  
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~  
Twenty days after Ace first appeared in his galley, Thatch was sure something was wrong with their new brother. Now that Ace stopped hiding himself away, Thatch couldn’t convince himself that his gut feeling was wrong. Ace fell asleep everywhere, he blamed it on insomnia. That could be true, but Thatch thought there was more to the story. Something about the way Ace moved was ringing alarm bells in the chef’s mind.  
The fourth commander was on his way to talk to Marco and/or Pops about the nagging feeling when he literally ran into Ace. Ace was falling to the ground when Thatch caught him. There were supposed to be muscles there, right? Thatch remembered his first glance at the brat after his fight with Jinbe. The ruined shirt hid none of his physique. But Thatch could feel none of it. He tried to talk to Ace, who slurred something out before going limp in the chef’s arms. Thatch picked him up (No one is supposed to be this light) and rushed to the infirmary. Marco joined him at some point, Thatch doesn’t remember when.  
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~  
127 pounds at 6’1”. How? Shouldn’t this have been noticed? Ace says he’s been living on a human’s normal portion of food three times a day and trying to make up the difference, from the amount he can eat, with fish. He was so afraid of rejection, he starved himself. That’s unacceptable. Now that Marco and Thatch know he can eat more, Ace is going to. He has no choice. Whiskey called Moby 2 and 3 for the Spade’s doctor and chef. The sheer amount Ace can eat per meal is shocking, and they will have to dock more frequently to keep stocked, but it’s going to happen. The other shocker is the narcolepsy and the fact that the little shit had hid his actual fucking medical conditions (including the extreme metabolism) from the crew for a hundred and twenty fucking days. Neither Thatch nor Marco is going to let him out of their fucking sight until he gets it through his stubborn-ass head how stupid he was. Captain’s orders.

**Author's Note:**

> Ace hadn't gotten his tattoo yet. He was still debating where to put it. He was also wearing stolen shirts at the time.
> 
> The idea for this just popped into my head and I had to type it up immediately. I know the timeskips and ending are kinda abrupt, but it's a short piece. Let me know if there is any constructive criticism you have!


End file.
